Hey GPODers! In case you missed yesterday’s post, we’re swimming in a sea of blue, thanks to the many early bloomers from Kathy Schreurs’s fantastic garden in Iowa.

It’s been an extremely long spring by our northwest Iowa standards: I spotted my first crocus mid-March, and other harbingers of spring (Virginia bluebells, lungworts, brunneras, and forget-me-nots) were just blooming their last on Memorial Day. The long spell of cool, often rainy weather went by uninterrupted by March blizzards or May heatwaves. There’s been time to slow down and enjoy the color of spring. I’ve noticed that while roses are red and violets are blue, several other early arrivals are blue(ish) too.

Easy to understand why Kathy got hooked on amsonia. While this profusion of blooms in spring is show stopping, the foliage of this perennial absolutely glows in the sun and its mounding habit gives it the same structural power as low-growing shrubs. If Kathy is right about the variety, she certainly snagged a winner. ‘Storm Cloud’ is the Proven Winners® 2024 National Landscape Perennial of the Year.

When you have this wonderful variety of blooms, bringing some garden color indoors is a must! Can you spot some of the plants we’ve seen from Kathy’s garden in these beautiful bouquets?

And what’s your favorite color in the garden? Let us know below, in the comments, or send pictures of all the plants you have of that color in your garden!

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to gpod@taunton.com along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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